At the boardwalk, Tanya sat with the girls while Tommy and Jason started to light the fire. She noticed Adam and Rocky sparring in the clearing on the other side of the fence, and Bulk and his date talking with Skull and Stephanie in a corner. Trini and Zack were huddled near the fire pit.
After a few minutes, the fire caught on and started to spread. "We'd better go get the boys," Kat said, gesturing over to Adam and Rocky. Tanya fell into step beside Katherine, the two arriving in the clearing just in time to see Adam pin Rocky.
"I let him win," Rocky said.
"Do you want me next?" Adam asked, nodding at Tanya.
Kat raised an eyebrow at Rocky, who snickered behind his hand.
Tanya shook her head. "No way. I'm too out of practice. You'll destroy me."
"Nah, I'll go easy on you," Adam promised.
"Tanya, Tanya, Tanya," Rocky started to chant.
Katherine smiled encouragingly and Tanya groaned. "Oh, alright." She moved into position, shaking his hand.
His moves were as graceful as ever, and she tried not to get too distracted by his footwork. To her surprise, she managed to land a swift kick and it didn't take long for her to begin to move in tandem with him. She blocked when she needed to and advanced when it was appropriate and suddenly, all the excitement and vigor of the old days overcame her and she was a hero again.
Then Adam caught her wrist and pinned her hands behind her back. "See? You did great," Adam said, his mouth close to her ear. "It's just like riding a bicycle. You don't just forget how to do it."
"I guess so," Tanya said, her face beaming.
Kat patted her on the back as the four made their way over to join the others at the bonfire. "You were fantastic," she assured her, before walking away to take her place on the ground between Tommy and Aisha.
"Just like old times, huh?" A voice said behind her, and she whirled around.
"Skull!" She threw her arms around him. "Skull, this whole week has been so amazing. Thank you so much for everything."
"Thank you for joining us," Stephanie said, placing her hand on her arm with a warm squeeze.
"Where are you guys going to be living?" Tanya wondered aloud. "Here in Angel Grove?"
Skull shook his head as they walked down the boardwalk. "Not Angel Grove. But just two towns over. We didn't want to leave California."
"Our family's here," Stephanie explained. "And all of our friends."
Tanya smiled. "That's nice." She turned to Bulk. "And what about you? Your date to the wedding….?"
"Marcie," Bulk reminded her.
"Right. Is that serious?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it is," Bulk said.
"That's so great," Tanya said, reaching over to hug him too. "I'm really happy for you."
She thought for a moment. "I guess yours will be the next wedding we all get to come home too."
Bulk chuckled. "I don't know about that," he said.
"But you know, the cool thing about home is you never really need a reason to come back to it," Skull said before leading Stephanie over to the fire.
Tanya crouched down to take her place between Adam and Rocky. Her eyes wandered around her friends, all sitting cuddled together in a giant circle around the bonfire. She stared into the flames, listened to the soft crackling. "You guys, promise me something," she said, reaching for their hands.
"What's that?" Rocky asked, giving her fingers a squeeze.
"Promise me we won't all lose touch. That we can always come back to each other."
Tommy raised his soda can and the others did the same, murmuring their sentiments and agreements.
Adam pulled her hand up to his face and kissed her knuckles softly.
"I'm just really glad we had this week together," Rocky told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close.
"Me too," she said quietly.
"I'm not looking forward to Aisha and Zack leaving tomorrow," Adam said, tilting his head towards her. "When did you say you were staying until?"
Her face fell. "I don't know. Kat's leaving on Tuesday. I guess I have to leave by then too."
"Why's that?" Rocky asked.
Tanya shrugged, staring into the fire again. "I'm not going to stay at her parents' house without her, and I already lost my reservation at the hotel."
"Well, there's other hotels," Rocky pointed out.
"Yeah," Adam said. "If you really wanted to stay an extra couple of days, we could help you work something out."
She was quiet, still holding onto their hands as if she never wanted to let go.
By the time everyone was heading to their cars, Katherine and Aisha had wandered back over to her. "We're going to go turn in," Kat said gently. "Are you going to give Adam a ride home?"
Tanya nodded. "I'll see you guys later," she said. She turned to Adam and gestured with her head over to her car.
Adam quickly fell into step beside her. "You remember the way?"
"Of course," she said, turning her key in the ignition.
"This is the most fun I've had in a long time," Adam commented as she drove through Angel Grove on instinct and memory.
Tanya hummed her agreement, gazing thoughtfully at the trees and traffic lights ahead. All too soon, she was pulling up in front of Adam's parents' house and she put the car in park as she slid across the seat to hug him goodbye.
He embraced her tightly and hesitated with his hand on the door handle. "Do you want to come inside for a little bit?"
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah," she said softly. "Yeah, sure."